In 2018, the guest country for the Gault&Millau Belux ‘country special’ in the yearly restaurant guide will be Thailand. The Thailand country special, created especially for the Belux market, will become a 60-page special integrated into the Gault & Millau restaurant guide edition 2018. The guide will be published in November 2017. In the context of this project, a delegation of Gault&Millau staff, some of our country’s best chefs and some leading press professionals visited Bangkok in June 2017.
Culinary Expedition Bangkok
The itinerary of the trip was compiled by TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and Gault&Millau Belgium and focused on the diversity of the Thai cuisine and fine dining in Bangkok. The full story will be published in our special country cahier of the Gault&Millau Belux guide, which will be released in November 2017.
During the 6-day trip, the Belgian delegation visited the best fine-dining restaurants in Bangkok, local markets and a selection of cultural and historical sites. Belgian top chefs Gert De Mangeleer (Hertog Jan, 18.5/20 Gault&Millau 2017) & David Martin (La Paix, 17/20 Gault&Millau 2017) accompanied the group and got ‘hands-on’ with typical Thai dishes and ingredients.
Travel tips Bangkok
The Belgian delegation flew from Brussels Airport with Thai Airways, which offers direct flights from Brussels to Bangkok and Bangkok to Brussels.
The team stayed at three hotels:
The group was escorted and guided by Asian Trails, a professional travel agent with qualified English-language guides specializing in Southeast Asia.
A first selection of highlights
Gault&Millau is happy to reveal a first selection of highlights from the trip. For the full story, make sure you reserve your copy of the Gault&Millau Guide 2018!
Departure from Brussels Airport
Lunch at Celadon Restaurant – Thai fine dining in the Sukhothai Bangkok hotel
Lunch at Chakrabongse Villas – Thai fine dining in a residence of a princely family
Dinner at Gaggan – Inventive, molecular Indian bites
Visit of the Or Tor Kor market – Local high end fresh market, a culinary playground for our chefs
Thai cooking class at Issaya Siamese Club (or was it a Belgian cooking class?)
Dinner at Bo.Lan, on of Bangkok’s best Thai restaurants, with TAT’s Inter PR Director
Temple hopping at the Ayutthaya province
Visit of the riverside Amphawa market
Lunch at Nahm*, with the TAT team
Dinner at Sala Rim Nam in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel